[Web4lib] controlling bad design

[Robin]

Ahem! Although I says it as shouldn't, I do think our web site (http://www.stcharleslibrary.org) is a nice balance of graphics and text in a pretty usable format (not to imply that we no longer have vicious running battles that last weeks and cause blood to flow in the corridors, but we did reach consensus on the over-all look and feel, and I think it works well).

Robin Boulton
IT Manager
St Charles Public Library


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Sharon Foster
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 6:46 PM
To: Mary Beth Faccioli
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] controlling bad design

Replying to a slightly different question, but to me good design and
usability go hand-in-hand.

Jakob Neilson: http://www.useit.com

Steve Krug: http://www.sensible.com/

Eric Lease Morgan: http://infomotions.com/musings/usability-in-minutes/

Keith Instone: http://usableweb.com/

One thing that you'll notice right away about all four websites is the
simplicity and dearth of graphics. That's probably too far in the
other direction for most of us and our library websites, but they can
serve as a sanity check when we get too carried away.

Sharon M. Foster, JD, MLS
Librarians bring order out of chaos.
http://www.vsa-software.com/mlsportfolio/






On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 5:55 PM, Mary Beth Faccioli<mbfaccioli at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Seems I'm coming around again to issues faced years back.  I'll be digging out old material on this and recompiling, but I also am wondering about any current takes.
>
> I'm finding that the minimalist presentation approach that encourages the use of images and visual approaches (some call it Presentation Zen) is creating another wave of terrible stuff being added to web pages and presentations, and I need to address this at my current organization.
>
> If you have various people in your organization who are doing their own content creation on the web using some kind of content management approach, or people newly empowered to create presentations for online delivery and other purposes, and you have some kind of 1) policy statement or 2) best design practices in place regarding the use of animations, clip art etc. - would you be willing to share those with me through links or other means (attachment in an email sent to me perhaps)?  Also, any good links to very straightforward resources that have basic design principles and things to avoid would be appreciated.  I look at a number of blogs on presentation but I'm wondering if anyone on the list can recommend any gems that are pithy and clear.
>
> Thanks in advance -
>
> Mary Beth Faccioli, MLIS
> Instructional Design & Technology Consultant
> Colorado State Library
>
>
>
>
>
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